Bunny's fur on nose and body dramatically changed color

[ToffeeBun]

Hi Guys!
This is my first time posting to this forum. I'm a little concerned about my bunny changing color dramatically. My bunny's name is Toffee, she's an adorable Holland Lop that I've had since she was 8 weeks old, and she just turned 5 months old about a week ago (11/12/2020). She started off as a very light "toffee" color. But now she's turned into a considerably dark brown/grey, and has also started developing a white patch on her nose. I've attached a photo of her a couple weeks after she came home along with a photo of her now for reference.

If this is just normal shedding it will make me very happy, as I'll know nothing is medically concerning. But she was also soo stinkin cute as her light color - plus it's the reason she's named toffee, so I'm also curious to know if there is any chance she might shed to a lighter color again? Thanks for any info!!

 

[SableSteel]

That's normal for the color. It's called "blue tortoise". Probably won't lighten up as much as she was as a kit

 

[ToffeeBun]

Oh man thank you so much for the info!! I was told she had a fawn coat, which is what sparked my confusion/concern. But the blue tort makes so much more sense! I went back to her parents info and her dad is lilac and her mom is a rich brown with white Vienna marking. Thank you for putting my mind at ease!

 

[AVIE]

It's like two different buns! She sure is growing up gorgeous...that color just is the softest blue.

 

[Happy Hollands]

Her color is Blue Tort, which can get confused with fawn/cream easily. The main way to distinguish differences between these similar coat colorings is that blue torts have a darker colored belly, and fawn/cream bunnies have a white belly.

Her color most likely changed because she shed / molted her baby coat - Holland Lops normally do this around 4 months of age and their color can change a bit (sometimes drastically in this case). Ticking and shading normally start showing up around this age as well! That little white mark you see on her nose is actually a Vienna mark, if her eyes are not blue colored, it means she carries the blue-eyed gene (displayed through this marking, so if ever bred she would have a great chance of producing babies that were also Vienna marked like her mama). Definitely something the breeder should have disclosed to you. So yes, in my experience, rabbits darken coat color with age and she will most likely stay this color for life.